Objections to Love
by WriterESK
Summary: Monster, monster, hidden in the shadows... come out to play. Murder descends on Mineral Town, the townspeople are struck by terror, old secrets turn to motives and love blooms in the most unexpected of conditions. Monster, monster... strike them dead...
1. Chapter 1

Hi! In case you don't know who we are let this be your very first introduction to us as a team.

We have individual profiles on this site; Ekoaleko, The Scarlet Sky and Kuruk! We decided to team-up to combine our greatest strengths and make great fics with them!!!

This particular fic is our first, so bear with us as we try and find an equilibrium between our writing styles although we are already working really well together!

Disclaimer: We do not own Harvest Moon... unless one of us is holding out on the others... which I doubt :).

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Prologue

"Let's try this again… shall we, Sheryl?"

Sheryl crossed her legs and fidgeted uncomfortably in the spacious, supposedly comforting office, refusing the older woman's offer to lay down in one of those inclined couches you expected to see in the shrink's office.

That was a laugh… the shrink's office made her feel more like a freak than she ever had before in her life. It was cold, and Sheryl shivered and hugged herself tightly; something she never allowed herself to do, ever. Those kinds of things were signs of weakness-- something that twenty-seven year old defense attorney Sheryl Austen never allowed herself to expose.

To do that showed your opponent that you were weak, and that meant that they had the upper hand. Never ever show your weakness or any emotion when staring down your opponent, because if you did, they'll know exactly where to press the witness, when to object, when to tear your whole case apart.

Indeed, Sheryl was the stereotypical personification of a young, feminist lawyer. She lived for work: ate, drank, slept and breathed it. And because of it Sheryl had been rewarded with a perfect record: a spotless 100 acquittal rate.

She showed no emotion except when she was in front of the cameras, showing her outrage at the 'unjust _per_secution' the State was resorting to or how happy she and her client were when she eventually won the case.

Other than the occasional dry laugh at a witness's joke or the boredom she felt while the D.A. presented its case, those were all the emotions Sheryl felt.

That was all she _needed _to feel.

And yet, here she was. Hotshot young defense attorney prodigy, top of her class at Harvard Law, Miss 100 Acquittal Queen…

Not in a courtroom, but in a shrink's office. And why was that? Why was the dragon lady not gobbling up the poor, hapless prosecutors twice her age?

It was quite simple: Miss 100 Acquittal Queen Sheryl Austen... had been raped.

And that, she couldn't deal with.

"_Miss Austen_," Sheryl corrected, feeling suddenly very defensive.

The shrink pushed up at her glasses, looking quite flustered like the D.A. did when she shot a hole in his case. "Miss Austen… why don't you tell me why you're here?"

Sheryl inspected her nails casually, trying to hide the agony of being violated in such a way within her. That is, deep within where not even she could hear its screams for release... for vengeance... for justice.

"I don't even know why I'm here…" Sheryl told her finally, avoiding eye contact.

The shrink sighed impatiently and wrote something down on her legal pad. "Try very hard. Miss Austen."

Sheryl sighed in resignation. "I can't get back into the courtroom…" she admitted reluctantly, embarrassed by her predicament.

The shrink actually smirked in victory and, rightly so, this was the first time she'd gotten Sheryl to speak about her problems in two weeks. "And why is that, Sheryl? Why can't you get back to work?"

"_Miss Austen,_" Sheryl corrected again before replying, "I… I… don't know exactly--"

The shrink crossed her legs and doodled on her pad again-- a daunting gesture. "Alright, Miss Austen," she said in exasperation, "I'll do the talking, if that's alright with you." She looked at Sheryl as if she expected her to reply. When she did not, the shrink continued, "You were the victim of a rape..."

Sheryl hid a twitch at the word without knowing why she'd done so. She'd defended enough guilty rapists to be familiar with the word. Plus, she was so deep in thought and analyzing her mind's doings that she barely heard the woman's next few words.

"...And because the rapist was one of your clients, you're afraid that when you go back in there you'll be targeted again."

Sheryl winced noticeably, squirming under the glare of the shrink. She'd gotten that right, but that wasn't all of it. There were other reasons why Sheryl didn't want to step into the courtroom…

But the thing was that she still wanted to go back in. She wanted to shout 'Objection!' and press witnesses and convince the jury of her client's 'innocence.' Sheryl loved it; loved her life…

Or at least she _had_.

Suddenly it was very uncomfortable for Sheryl to be in this lady's office, to be asked questions. She was much too used to asking the questions herself and she hated not being in control…

She needed out.

_Now._

Sheryl rose and headed for the door.

"The session's not over yet!" the shrink called shrilly.

Sheryl didn't stop.

"Miss Austen…" she persisted dejectedly, "Just hear me out, okay?"

Sheryl paused but did not turn around, so the shrink took this as her cue to start talking. "I can't help you… Only _you _can help you… Staying here in New York isn't going to do you any good. There are too many ghosts of your life here. You need peace, quiet and lots of love and understanding if you are to recover." She sighed, humble for once. "I suggest that you take a vacation for a month or two... put the pieces back together."

When Sheryl was sure that she'd finished, she walked out of the office.

_A vacation? _Sheryl hadn't gone on a vacation since she was twenty-one and her friends in law school persuaded her to go with them to Miami for Spring Break. The new Sheryl was too busy defending her many clients to even consider taking a day off.

Vacation. That was rich.

But she wasn't working-- the firm had told her to take as long as she needed before getting back to work, meaning that they didn't want an attorney with a phobia of courtrooms representing any of their clients any time soon. Also, she had nothing else to do with herself. She had no friends she could spend time with, no family she could stay with for a while, no boyfriend to let hug her until all her fears went away.

Sheryl Austen was very much... alone.

And it was only now that she realized how much she hated it.

Sheryl was in her apartment later that day, feeling like it was the most alien place on earth to her. She had never been one to just spend a day at home, relaxing on the couch with a good book and a mug of coffee. But even though she hadn't exactly made her apartment really 'homey,' she had always felt that it was home…

_Before_ the incident.

But this was now. A man that had been no stranger to her had broken into her house, stained its walls with his vile presence, stenched the air with his breath. If that were not enough, he had violated Sheryl within these walls. He had destroyed her...

She no longer felt at home.

Instead, she felt the apartment to be the site of great, painful memories that rushed back to her every time she lay awake in bed and each time she walked through her front door. Each time she opened her eyes, each time she closed them...

Sheryl wanted those memories buried and burned, not brought back to her every time she came home.

She reached into her drawer and pulled out an old album that had been doing nothing but collecting dust. Smiling faintly, she opened the old album and looked at the old pictures.

There she was, five years old, standing beside her best friend and cousin Mary, standing behind her shyly when she was four.

"Come by anytime!" her aunt Anna had yelled at her as she left town nine years ago. "I mean it, Sherry! You're like my daughter!"

...How long had it been?

Did the offer still stand? Was she still like her daughter... was she still... wanted?

The word pinched at her chest. Sheryl shook her head and stood up, determined. Vacation, huh? More like a homecoming… finally…

Someone in the world, no matter how far away, no matter how far across any ocean... cared about her. _Wanted _her. She couldn't let this chance fade away...

So it was decided.

Sheryl Austen was going to Mineral Town.

She was going... home.

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Like? Please review and show your love! I think we can all agree that the three of us love reviews!!!

Hoped you enjoyed it!

-Eko, Scarlet and Kuruk


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! This is chapter two of this story!

We hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter Two

The luggage had been packed, the ferry boarded, and the fare paid. Sheryl sat huddled in the backseat of the boat, her eyes distracted by the sunlight gleaming overhead. It was the same sun she'd seen in the city, the same brilliant star that had shone over her apartment back home. But it was clearer now, free from the smoke that had choked it back in the industrial air.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" the captain grunted. Sheryl simply nodded, unable to bring herself to speak in this stranger's presence. He eyed her with dark, questioning eyes, then shrugged and continued directing the boat. "We don't get visitors here in Mineral Town that often, you know. You here on business? Pleasure?"

"…Escape," Sheryl murmured, so quietly that the man couldn't have heard her even if he wanted to. "Just escape."

With a slight jolt, the boat reached the dock, and Sheryl silently grabbed her bags and disembarked. The wind tossed about her practical ponytail, and squinting, she could make out the faint outlines of buildings in the glare of the morning.

"Do you need any directions?" the man insisted, tying the boat to the dock. He wiped his brow, then added, "There's an Inn down the way, if you need me to take you there—"

"I can get around fine on my own," Sheryl replied sharply. "I know where I'm going."

The man seemed a bit taken aback. Instead of disbuting he merely turned back around, incoherent words eliciting from all around him. Sherryl was oblivious to it all.

Home. She was finally going home.

…

Living in the city, "silence" was a word that had no literal meaning; there was always someone or something working, laughing, and blaring lights during all hours of the night. But walking on the cobblestone path, Sheryl found that she couldn't think of a more fitting word to describe the surroundings around her: peaceful and tranquil silence.

There was the Church, and the Clinic, and the Supermarket: all exactly where she had left them all those years ago. And of course there was the library, Mary's little heaven on earth. It had seemed like such a towering building to Sheryl back then, but staring at it now, the lawyer found it paled in comparison to skyscrapers and jet planes.

Sheryl stopped in front of a small, quaint building—a cottage that seemed to have escaped out of a fairy tale and nestled itself into this unassuming town. She brought her pale hand before the wooden door, then paused as her hand began to shake.

How strange it was…to think that now, of all times, Sheryl was returning to her aunt, uncle, and cousin. It had been years—ages—since she'd seen their faces, and now, it seemed so selfish to run to them just because she needed a place to hide. A place to cry. A place to escape. A place to forget.

A home.

Sheryl shook her head, letting out a small laugh. Why was she so afraid? Since when was she, Miss 100-percent Acquittal Queen, ever afraid of anything?

And with that thought in mind, Sheryl forced her hand to knock upon the door.

One knock. Two. That was all it took for the knob to turn and the door to swing wide open, revealing a young woman dressed in a worn blue smock. She blinked at Sheryl from behind wide spectacles, then gasped and lunged forward, embracing the lawyer in a full-blown hug.

"Sheryl, you're here!" Mary exclaimed, oblivious to her cousin's discomfort as she squeezed tighter. "Oh, how have you been?"

Once released from the unexpected embrace, Sheryl fought to calm her flushed expression of surprise. "I—I've been well," she replied, tightening her grip on her luggage.

Mary smiled, her brown eyes shining. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. I mean, I haven't spoken to you since we were kids, and it's wonderful to see you after so long. Do you need any help carrying that in?"

Sheryl shook her head, holding her bags close. "No, it's fine," she murmured.

"Oh." Only now catching onto the quiet undertone in her cousin's voice, Mary offered, "Well, at least come inside. You must want to sit down after traveling such a distance."

"Yeah," Sheryl nodded. "That might be nice."

The lawyer made her entrance slowly, her eyes taking their time and savoring each glimpse of the small home. It was as if she hadn't been gone a day; there was the same kitchen table, the same chairs, the same bookshelves that had proudly stood there years ago. But Sheryl soon found that her attention wasn't lingering on these familiar objects.

For one difference had made its way into the home, and it sat at the kitchen table, glancing at her from under a UMA hat. No, it was barely a glance; more like an unaffirmed glare that was quick to settle in and quick to seal with stone.

Sheryl paused, her lawyer instincts kicking in. "And this is…?"

"The name's Gray," the stranger spoke, crossing his arms. "You're that lawyer, right?"

"I prefer being called Sheryl," she retorted, armed, but slightly unused to normal people talking to her in such a way. "But in your case, I think Ms. Austen would be more appropriate." Flipping back her ponytail in annoyance, she turned to her cousin and asked, "Who is this man, Mary? What is he doing here?"

"The better question is, what are _you_ doing here?" Gray muttered.

"I happen to be her cousin--!"

"How the hell could you two be related?"

"As a matter of fact, we are!"

"Um, Sheryl," Mary interrupted, clearing her throat. "I'd like you to meet Gray. He's, um, well…my husband."

Husband.

The word hung in the air before Sheryl found that her voice could produce sound, and letting out a little breath of disbelief, she replied, "I'm sorry, he's your what?"

"You act like it's so hard to believe," Gray growled, standing up and putting his arm around the librarian protectively. Mary smiled at her helplessly in his embrace, unsure of what to say to her in this stunned state.

"Sheryl—"

"My bags," the lawyer mumbled, too wrought with sudden emotion to deal with this. "My bags…I'll take them upstairs now."

Her grip on them tightening, she started up the stairs in a steady procession, the sound of Mary's inevitable pursuit sounding behind her. "Sheryl, wait up!"

But Sheryl wasn't listening.

No, she was thundering up the stairs now—fighting to stay ahead of the librarian. Slinging her bags on the bed, her gaze flickered towards Mary in the doorway, standing tentatively at its entrance. Her braid was askew from running, and she was panting slightly, a little flushed.

"Sheryl, can I…can we talk?"

"You're married." It was a statement, a fact, a truth that she wanted so much to be a lie. Disbelief echoed through her voice, and Sheryl sat herself down on the bed, shaking her head. The ponytail bounced, and the lawyer repeated, "You're married," as if that could somehow calm her.

Though, no matter how many times she repeated it, the words still rang hollow in her ears.

The librarian started forward, and seating herself down by her cousin, murmured, "I…well, I _am_ married. I guess it was silly of me to not think this would be a shock, and for that I apologize. But Gray is a truly wonderful man once you get to know him—"

"You didn't even invite to me the wedding, Mary," Sheryl whispered, staring blankly at the wall. "I know that I haven't seen you in ages, but still…I didn't even get an invitation. I'm your cousin, Mary. You got married, and you—you forgot about me."

"Sheryl, you know that's not true," Mary insisted, taking her cousin by the hand. "I didn't think…well, I just didn't think you'd…you'd come."

"Why would you think that?" she challenged, but for some reason she felt she already knew the answer.

"Because, as soon as you left us and became a lawyer, I guess…I guess I thought you forgot about me, too."

_Left us._ Those were the words Mary had used. Those were the words that sent little, fork-sized knives into Sheryl's heart. Her veins tied for a second and for that short moment, she allowed herself to be vulnerable.

They sat there for a moment or two, the silence saying everything while they both said nothing. Sheryl's hand gripped the librarian's tighter and tighter until finally the lawyer turned to her cousin and choked, "You know I never forgot about you, right? You know that."

"And I never forgot about you," Mary assured her. "But you know what? We're here together now, Sheryl, and we can start to remember again. We can get to know each other—the new Sheryl and the new Mary—and maybe we can fix things. We can become a new family, something that you can always call home."

"…I've always called you and Aunt Anna and Uncle Basil home," Sheryl smiled, her voice cracking. "That's why I'm here. I'm—I'm home again."

Mary returned her smile, and giving her hand a reassuring shake, she said, "Of course you are, Sheryl. We've missed you so much."

"Hey, Mary!"

The loud shout from downstairs startled both girls, and glancing down, an impatient blacksmith could be seen at the bottom of the stairs. "Could you drag that little lawyer of yours down here and eat lunch? I'm starved."

And with much eye-rolling on Sheryl's part, they both started for the kitchen.

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We hope you enjoyed this chapter! We'll update again... eventually XD

Well, please drop a review to tell us how you like it!

Till next time!

-Eko, Scarlet and Kuruk


	3. Chapter 3

Kuruk: Well, gals, let's start this chapter up, huh?

Scarlet: (Is busy doing lots of homework, waves)

Eko: (Is frozen at home because of the snow and cold weather)

Kuruk: ... Okay... So, seeing as how my partners are... err... unavailable, I am going to handly this all by myself! Although it's really lonely... Okay, so, here's chapter three of our fic. Hope you like!

Scarlet: (waves goodbye)

Kuruk: (sighs) Better go thaw out Eko... (gets flamethrower and hops on a plane)

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Chapter Three

Sheryl took a seat at the table while Mary made her way to the kitchen and began preparing lunch. The lawyer looked on in disgust at what Mary had become: the Stepford wife, the housewife that lived to slave away for her husband.

She herself had sworn that she would never become such a thing, that she would separate herself from the rest of Mineral Town and become something different… _anything_ that would keep her out of the kitchen, away from the traditional men that wanted their wives to settle in at home and drop everything else in their lives for them and the little lives they had all planned out for them.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked bluntly, but at the same time surprisingly nonchalant. "You look even more like a depressed snake than you did a few minutes ago."

"_Gray!_" Mary exclaimed, looking back from her cooking. They made eye contact, Mary's dark, pleading eyes contrasting with Gray's blue, angry ones. The fight in his gaze faltered and Gray sighed and looked away.

"Oh, nothing's wrong," Sheryl answered crudely, trying to disguise the contempt in her voice into dry wit, "I was just thinking about how disgusting it is how a pig like you has tried so pathetically hard to turn my cousin into your personal, pitiful slave when in the end it clearly should be the other way around."

"_Sheryl!_" Mary pleaded, turning to stare at her cousin in shock. Sheryl ignored her, making eye contact with Gray instead, facing the contempt and hatred down with her own eyes. Arctic blue eyes clashed with his shadowed ones, and his receiving look was close to priceless.

Gray grew pale with fury. "I'm not going to let some arrogant hot-shot liar from the city come into _my _house and insult me!" Sheryl's eyebrows rose dangerously as he pounded on, "You're either going to shut up or get out of this--"

"This is _my home_," Sheryl snapped, anger blooming within her, overtaking her. "I lived here for eighteen years, and how about you? Zero and a half? At least I'm wanted here. Besides," she paused shortly to allow Gray to absorb her words, "this is my aunt and uncle's house. Not _yours._"

Gray rose and slammed his fist down on the table, making Sheryl jump in surprise. "That's it, _Ms. Austen_! I want you to get the hell out of my house--"

"_Don't you dare!_" One thick, shrill shriek sounded, causing the walls to tremble. A shocked silence fell like a heavy curtain in the room, one that seemed to echo from the volume adjustment. It had been Mary that had spoken, her face red, eyes flashing at Gray in anger and protectiveness.

"This is _my _house!" Mary flared at him in a voice Sheryl rarely heard. "She is my _cousin_ and you are my husband! I will not have either of you treat each other in this manner!" She stared each of them in the eyes, the dark steel within them showing each of them that the librarian had indeed meant what she said.

Gray snorted and instead of deciding to argue, left the table, opened the front door and slammed it so that the entire house shook and the door frame appeared close to falling flat.

Sheryl looked at Mary in a bit of shame and saw the tears welling up in her eyes. She also rose immediately and went over to her side and raised her hand to touch her shoulder. Something flashed before her eyes as her hand trembled and retreated, depriving the librarian of the contact that she needed at that moment.

"I-I…" Mary whispered through her tears. She gulped before continuing. "I'm sorry… Gray really is a wonderful man… it's just that he--"

"Hates me," Sheryl finished for her tartly. "Don't worry, Mary, I'm used to people hating my guts…" She smiled weakly to show she wasn't--completely--serious. "It comes with the job."

Her cousin shook her head, her ebony braid swaying behind her. "No," she murmured loudly. "He doesn't hate you… he just… hates what you are…" Sheryl's eyes widened in surprise, so Mary swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. "He… doesn't like lawyers…"

Sheryl actually snorted. Letting the words fill her head, yet emptily, thoughtlessly, she sat down at the kitchen table, pushing the stray strands of her black hair behind her ears. "Well that's the understatement of the century…" Mary chuckled a bit and sat down across from her cousin, the tears beginning to fade from her eyes.

"So much has changed since you were gone," she said, sentiment clear in her voice as she resorted to disabling her fidgeting by cleaning her foggy glasses. "Mom and Dad…" She chuckled. "You know them… Dad heard of a special flower that only bloomed once every decade in some far-off city and he went to study it… Mom wanted a vacation and she went along with him…"

"When will they be back?" Sheryl asked, feeling a twinge of sadness at not being able to see her aunt and uncle as soon as she had hoped.

Mary shrugged, chuckling a little more than she usually did. "Who knows?" She delivered her question with another question, sending the little hope Sheryl had down into the gutters. "Knowing Mom, she'll probably persuade Dad to take her somewhere else… and Goddess knows where she might want to go! They could be back next year, for all I know!"

Sheryl laughed weakly along with her cousin, however their laughs differed. They were... bitter.

The librarian perched her round spectacles on her nose and looked up at her with the same renewed concern that she had received when Sheryl walked through the door earlier that morning.

"S-Sheryl…?" Mary asked nervously. The lawyer inclined her head to continue. "A-are… are you okay?"

Sheryl seemed to shrink back at that question.

Okay.

Such a simple word, a word that meant that everything was fine. How easily Sheryl had always answered that question before, how simple it had seemed when everything really had been 'okay'. She remembered how she had longed for things to be 'great' instead of 'okay' when people asked her that, but now… now she could only wish that she was just 'okay'.

Sheryl waved the question off dismissively, avoiding eye contact with the librarian at all costs. "I'm… fine." Mary didn't look convinced. Sheryl cleared her throat, signaling a change of subject, "Mary… are you… happy?"

Happy.

When they had asked Sheryl that question, she never knew exactly how to answer. She… didn't know; thought that the way she lived was enough to make her 'happy'. But when she saw her cousin smile, her eyes light up as her lips so effortlessly formed that one syllable, Sheryl knew how wrong she had been.

"Yes," Mary said, her face aglow with not absolute bliss, but peaceful contentment, "I am very happy, Sheryl."

The lawyer fell silent, simply watching as her cousin smiled to herself, no doubt thinking about her life; about the friends she'd made, the family she loved… the husband that stood beside her now…

And Sheryl? She wasn't there, there in Mary's life. She should've been… and she regretted it so much now… enough to make the guilt that she had never felt before, the emotion that she had trained herself so well to ignore, was biting at her from the inside out, destroying her…

Rapid, light and oddly cheerful knocks came from the door, making the two women turn around and look at the door. Mary rose, smoothed the wrinkles out of her smock a few times with her pale hands, and opened the door.

"Why hello, Popuri," Mary said in a surprised tone of voice, a smile on her face. "This is a nice surprise! Would you like to come in?"

"I'd love to!" a woman's voice said from outside in an excited tone of voice. Who was that? Sheryl didn't recognize that voice and… Popuri? She didn't remember a Popuri…

A beautiful, porcelain-skinned woman walked in,. She had startling red eyes, but the most astounding feature she had was the beautiful cotton-candy colored hair that cascaded down her back, rippling with a flurry of ringlets.

Popuri…? The answer was on the tip of her tongue.

The girl's eyes flitted to Sheryl, gave her the one-over, then widened in recognition, as if she had just remembered a memory long forgotten. "Oh my Goddess!" Popuri cried in giddy excitement, scurrying over to Sheryl and inspecting her even closer with a big smile on her face, "Sheryl! Sheryl Austen!" Sheryl blinked a few times, the girl took that as a confirmation, "I haven't seen you, in like, forever!"

Something clicked in Sheryl's mind, and an uneasy smile slanted her lips a bit. "Popuri Banks?" Popuri nodded enthusiastically. "Wow…" Sheryl said, feeling a bit uneasy, "I… I just… wow…"

Popuri smiled as if she had a secret that no one else knew, a smile that had graced that face many time during her childhood, the one that she wore whenever she was about to snitch on whatever the other kids were doing. "Well… not Banks for long!" she squealed and flashed a sparkling diamond ring at the other two women. Mary, who was no longer a stranger to the conversation, cried out in surprise and joined the pink-haired girl in jumping up and down in giddy excitement. "Kai proposed!" Popuri informed them, screaming with glee.

Sheryl just stood there, feeling more and more distant as the other two women danced around the room like school girls. Another one…

Marriage.

Another person she knew so many years ago was getting married. She remembered when Popuri was a little girl, how she would always pester them: Sheryl, Mary, Joanna, Aja, Ann, Karen and Rick, to let her play with them. When Sheryl had left Popuri had only just turned thirteen, her face a mess of pimples, her flat-chest provoking taunts from Karen and Sheryl. But now… now Popuri looked beautiful: the perfect maiden, looking innocent yet mischievous at the same time.

Sheryl wondered how the others were doing… Karen, Rick, Joanna, Aja, Ann… had they all married too? Had they settled into the perfect life? Joanna, so beautiful and wise for her age; Sheryl had always been so jealous of her… she was everything she'd always wanted to be… Aja, always talking and gossiping; she'd often gotten on everyone's nerves, but Sheryl would do anything to hear her whiny voice now… Karen, so beautiful and courageous she would lead the group through their adventures through the hills… and Rick, always staring at Karen with the most intense feelings just behind those glasses that it was no mystery what he felt for his best friend… and, of course, Ann, always fiery and short-fused, keeping the party alive with the fires that sprung from her and into the others.

She missed them so much. So much that it hurt inside. If only she could've stayed and treasured her time with them more…instead of running away at the first chance she got, to the city, to freedom, to happiness.

Happiness. Sheryl found her mouth curving into a wry smile at the word. Was that truly what she had found?

"Oh, Sheryl!" Popuri was saying, "I wish that you could meet Kai! He started visiting town after you left and after all this time he just… popped the question, just like that!" Popuri's face lit up. "Oh, also, I'd love it if you came with Mary and Gray to the wedding! Oh please come, please, please, please!"

Sheryl looked straight into the girl's eyes and caved in… and she called herself a lawyer, she chastised herself. "Sure…" Sheryl said dejectedly, "why not?

Popuri squealed and delight and turned to Mary. "The wedding is next Sunday! I'm having my bachelorette party on that Friday! I hope you can all come!" Popuri hugged Mary goodbye and waved her fingers at Sheryl, as if even though they were friends back then, they were strangers now. "I have to go tell the others! I'm so happy to see you again, Sheryl!" she called before closing the door and leaving the house, which was quick to quiet again.

Sheryl sighed and ran a hand through her black hair. "Well... I guess I'm going to bed…" she told her cousin, suddenly feeling very fatigued.

Mary looked at her in surprise. "It's not even noon, Sheryl."

"Then I'll take a nap…" Sheryl rephrased irritably, as she climbed the stairs rapidly to avoid talking with her cousin anymore than she had to.

Mary paused, listening until the footsteps receded into a calm silence. Then, sighing, she began to finish making their lunch.

* * *

Scarlet: (waves hello, begins typing furiously)

Kuruk: Hi. I'm not quite to Canada yet, but I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter and show your love, critique or opinion (or heck, all three!) and that you have very Happy Holidays, whatever it may be that you celebrate-,

Angry Stuartist: Young (CENSORED!!!), you're not supposed to be on your computer during takeoff!!!

Kuruk: I... err...

Angry Stuartist: Take that off right now or no honey peanuts or soda for you!

Kuruk: NOO!!! Sorry guys, gotta go! I can't miss out on those HONEY ROASTED SALTY PEANUTS!!! (turns off computer)

Scarlet: ... (waves goodbye)

Eko: (Still frozen...)


	4. Chapter 4

It's been a long time coming, but the three of us are proud to introduce Chapter Four of "Objections to Love"! Hopefully you'll find it worth the wait.

* * *

Chapter Four

The last bachelorette party Sheryl had attended involved heavy drinking, strippers, and many women she was positive she'd never see again. In Mineral Town, Sheryl decided that the only similarity she could see between the two parties was the presence of alcohol, and even that probably wouldn't have taken place if it weren't for Karen.

Mary had assured her that the dress would be casual, and Sheryl had taken her cousin on her word; the lawyer was sporting a plain pair of jeans and a button-down white blouse. "Why do you always have to look like you're going to a business meeting?" Gray had complained when she'd emerged at the bottom of the stairs, and in response, Sheryl had stomped out the door with a flustered Mary in tow.

The door to the Poultry Farm had been open—as usual in sleepy little Mineral Town—and at first, Sheryl wondered if anyone had heard their entrance. But then an ecstatic, "Oh, Mary! And, um...Sheryl! (That's it!) You're here!" sounded as Popuri poked her head out from the bedroom door.

"You're just in time!" she bubbled out as Sheryl and Mary followed her into a room where a small crowd of girls were passing a bottle of wine. Sheryl raised an eyebrow as she tried to piece together names with faces; was that blonde confident girl Karen? Could that tall girl there be Ann, the shrimpy tomboy from so long ago? And was that brunette over there Elli—sweet, cheerful Elli who would always share the last piece of apple pie with whoever asked? It was so bizarre, to see these girls transformed into women before Sheryl's eyes. It was like a slideshow: before and after.

"Hey, I don't think we've met." Sheryl blinked as she saw that Karen—or at least, she assumed it was Karen—approaching her. Emerald eyes appraised her thoughtfully before she continued, "I'm Karen. And you are…?"

"This is my cousin," Mary interjected, surprising her cousin with her wary tone. "You remember Sheryl, Karen?"

Sheryl waited as Karen processed the name, trying to bring up the connotations she knew went with it. "Sheryl Austen? Hey, wait, you're that girl who helped me hide Rick's chickens on the roof that one time!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember her!" Ann exclaimed, the memory doing likewise for the other girls present. "And we switched out the wine with vinegar once—"

"And we had that snowball fight one year," Elli smiled. "You knocked off poor Mary's glasses!"

Sheryl nodded slowly at all the exclamations, unsure of how to respond. In truth, Sheryl hadn't remembered half of them; her childhood had been so fleeting she only recalled one or two of the instances. The Sheryl from back then hardly resembled her now; when was the last time she'd pulled a prank, anyway?

Mary noticed her discomfort more or less and said simply, "Hey, tonight is Popuri's night, isn't it? Let's leave poor Sheryl alone. You can swap memories another time."

"Yes!" Popuri pouted from her chair, her radiant cotton candy hair topped with a cheap plastic crown, "I'm the queen tonight and it's all about me!"

Karen rolled her eyes at Popuri's childish statement and dove for the wine, making Sheryl jump back a little, eyes widening as Karen began chugging the wine, much to the others' apparent delight. Eventually, when the bottle was almost empty, Popuri swiped the bottle out of her hands and flourished it a bit before bringing it to her own lips.

"Oh my..." Mary said, hand over her mouth nervously, as Popuri attempted to chug the wine just as Karen had, only to have it spill out of her mouth in waves and color her white blouse blood red.

"And she says she's never had a drink before," Ann stage-whispered in Karen's general direction, causing all the girls--except a bewildered Sheryl--to burst out in giddy laughter.

The lawyer fidgeted a bit, suddenly realizing that she was the only one standing in the room. She awkwardly sat herself between Ann and Elli; with the wine sloshing around, she preferred to sit as far away from Popuri and Karen as possible.

"Popuri, there's more wine on your shirt than in your mouth," Elli chided her.

"Ah, let her have her fun. There's plenty more to go round," Karen assured the nurse as she pulled out a few more bottles from what seemed like thin air. They were passed around eagerly, and suddenly Sheryl found a bottle cradled in her hands. Her gaze flickered over to Mary, who was declining the drink quietly, and decided to do the same.

The problem was, Mary had given her drink to Ann.

Sheryl had given her drink to Karen.

"What kind of city girl doesn't like wine?" she exclaimed, hand on hip.

"I..." At first Sheryl was a bit speechless. She was so unused to people treating her equally...or less than that. "I just like to have my wits about me," she finally replied softly.

Judging by the laughter of the gathered women, that wasn't such a good answer. Well... this wasn't the courtroom... she didn't need to be one hundred percent alert _all_ the time, did she?

Well, this _was_ Mineral Town. You couldn't drive so running someone over was out of the equation. Not only that but one night drunk, with nothing to do the next day but dwell on... on...

She forced that event out of her head just as the women laughed again.

"Actually," Sheryl said, making her decision, "I think I'll have some."

"Sheryl..." Mary began in a hushed tone, one of concern.

"That's the spirit!" Karen cheered, passing back the bottle of wine, which Sheryl took, albeit relectantly. She looked down the tiny bottleneck and into the blood red liquid. It smelled enticing, yet dark and dangerous all at once. It would surely taste sweet, if she remembered the taste of Duke's wine correctly.

"Go ahead!" Ann coaxed, voice impatient.

Sheryl did as she was told and drank some, slowly at first. As she swallowed the sweet liquid she strived to focus on only the slight burning of the wine on its way down, pushing all of her other problems out of her head, all of her thoughts. They could wait.

In what seemed like a few seconds the bottle was empty, and Sheryl removed the bottle from her lips, feeling a bit flushed. Everyone assembled was looking at her in shock.

Karen and Popuri were the first to break the silence, the blonde with cheers and the bride-to-be with a few whoops as she got to her feet with great difficulty and fished out another bottle from the cabinet. The others joined in, except Mary, who was looking at Sheryl in concern and disapproval.

"Care to do that again, Sheryl?" Karen dared smugly as Popuri handed her another bottle.

"Sheryl... really, you shouldn't..." Mary said, her voice low.

Completely ignoring her cousin, Sheryl nodded and smiled at the cheers that came forth, taking the bottle in her hands as Ann reached across Elli with a bottle opener and popped the cork open. The waitress did the same for Karen and they both put the bottle to their lips.

"Be careful, you guys... Don't push yourselves too hard..." Elli warned. She looked between the two thoughtfully. "I might as well get some peanuts... it helps with alcohol consumption, you know?"

As the nurse went into the kitchen Ann got to her feet and after a very dramatic annoucement in a typical wrestling-show-announcer manner, and after she shouted 'Go!' both women began to drink at the cries of 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' coming from an overly giddy Popuri and Ann.

Sheryl's mind seemed to spin, and all she could feel was the thick bottle that rested between her hands; all she could hear were low and incomprehensible voices of the girls around her. The liquid slammed down her throat and made her feel light-headed, but she just kept chugging it down. All at once her lungs seemed to constrict and tug at her, pleading for her to stop--but she didn't. Not feeling a care in the world, she refused to release the bottle.

"AND IT'S DONE!"

At the finalizing shout in Ann's voice, Sheryl pulled away the bottle, expecting fluid to still be swishing around inside it. She waited for Karen to cheer and boast, but instead Popuri's squeals erupted the air. "You did it, Sheryl! You...outdrank the drunkard!" Her light eyes trailed down the front of Sheryl's shirt. "Well, you were a bit messy in the process, but...you still won!"

Sheryl managed an uneven and sloppy smile. Her eyes slid awkwardly and her gaze locked with Karen's for a split second--Karen's being cold and far from congratulatory. A shiver rolled down her spine when she heard the most tight-sounding words in her life: "Congratulations, you bitch."

She seemed paralysed as Karen stood up and took long strides out of the room, at the same time managing a rather calm exterior. Sheryl turned her head, which was feeling on the verge of splitting. "Are you sure you should've done that?" Mary asked quietly.

Sheryl looked at her, blinking. "You...did you hear Karen? Did you hear what she said to me?" Funny, the words came out with a slight slur.

Mary blinked. "What did who say, Sheryl?"

The room was spinning, her head was throbbing. "Karen... she called me a bitch."

Mary seemed shocked at the accusation, eyes widening behind her glasses. "Sheryl, are you alright?"

No, not really... "Yes... why wouldn't I be?" she snapped. Why was she so defensive?

The librarian seemed taken aback, and Sheryl only then noticed that all eyes were on her. "Sheryl..." Mary spoke, sounding very concerned, "Karen didn't say anything. She just had to leave. It's really late. If she did say anything, then it was 'Goodnight'."

Sheryl shook her head wildly. "Are you calling me--" the bile rising in her throat prevented her from finishing.

The lawyer gagged and got to her knees, surprised that they felt like Jello. Before they could give out from under her she managed a couple of steps in the general direction of the door, before she tripped on her own feet.

But before she could hit the groud something grabbed her and helped her outside where the cool, fresh air did nothing to assuage her. She keeled over and poured the contents of her stomach out on the ground, barely aware of the hand holding her hair back and the concerned chattering of the girls as they watched from the window.

When her belly was empty, and she was confident in her ability to stand, she did so, disgusted with herself. Well... the world had stopped spinning and the voices seemed clearer now, at least...

"Are you alright, ma'am?"

Sheryl whirrled around, almost tripping again. Who was there? It sounded like a man. There weren't any men here; it was a bachelorette party...

Regarding her with a very concerned expression, was, indeed, a man. He was of medium height and his pale face was adorned with big circular glasses and his forehead a bit obscured by some type of dirty-blonde hair. He looked weak though strong at the same time. He wasn't a looker, surely not the type Sheryl had dated (in the rare occurences that she had the time) back in the city... Yes, total dork... although he did have kind eyes.

"Yes," Sheryl said brusquely, breaking eye contact with him and folding her arms over her chest, "Yes... I'm okay..."

The dorky man scratched the back of his head, a smile of relief on his face. "Thank the Goddess..." he seemed to get a bit angry, "I _told_ Popuri not to get that wine... She had Duke spike it..." he seemed to be talking to himself. Sheryl didn't know whether to run in relief or slap him in annoyance. He turned those kind eyes back on her, which were now quizical, "Have we... met...?"

"I...I dunno." Sheryl replied lamely, her head beginning to throb again.

Before dorky kind-eyed man could answer, Mary was beside her cousin. "Oh my goodness, Sheryl, are you alright?"

The man blinked in recognition, but one again, before he could speak, the others were outside. Elli pushed her way through, regarding Sheryl with a motherly expression: disapproving and concerned at the same time, just like when a mother caught her daughter out late.

"Goddess, Sheryl," Elli breathed, touching the lawyer's head with the back of her hand. "We should really get you to the Clinic..."

"I'm fine... really..." Sheryl replied, not feeling 'fine' at all.

"Nonsense," Elli said in a no-nonsense manner, "You're dehydrated now and a bit delusional. You're out of it too, poor dear..." Elli sighed and looked at the man, who looked lost by the sidelines. "Rick, would you help me get her to the Clinic?"

Rick...? The name registered in Sheryl's weary mind as he nodded and walked over, hesitant when he supported the lawyer. "Is she going to be alright, Elli?" Popuri asked, hiccuping as she stood in the doorway. Rick glared at his younger sister through his glasses, and the nurse smiled at her reassuringly.

"Oh yes. Her body just had an adverse reaction to so much alcohol." She frowned. "You should stop drinking, Poppie," and as her gaze shifted, she added, "You too, Ann!" The redhead cursed and discarded the bottle quickly.

Mary was holding Sheryl's hand on the other side, looking terrified. "Oh Elli," she said as she looked into Sheryl's eyes, "She looks so unaware!"

Oh... yes... she did feel rather lightheaded.

"Oh my," Elli's voice said, "we should get going! I think she's going to--"

Faint.

The last thing Sheryl remembered before passing out was, oddly, a flash of purple somewhere near the forge. After that, it went dark, and she could've sworn that she saw Popuri saying something loudly at Rick. It sounded suspiciously familiar... "Congratulations, you bitch," she seemed to say. It didn't seem right, though...not right at all...

A blinding flash of emerald green overtook her, than small pupils that shot straight through her soul.

And at long last, darkness and silence that stung as hard as the cold wind outside.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave us a review so we can hear your feedback! Until next update, 

--Eko, Scarlet, and Kuruk


	5. Chapter 5

_It took us awhile, but we've finally finished the next installment of OtL. Sorry it took so long. :)_

_Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter Five

It was supposed to be the eve of her wedding day...

The eve of the happiest day of her life...

Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over as she ran, blindly away from it all. The sky seemed to fall from above her, her feet leading her away from everywhere, everything.

How could he...? Didn't he love her...?

_How could he just ruin her like this_?

She didn't stop running when the pavement underneath her became sand, not even when her mind turned traitorous and blared that this was where it had all begun. The beach.

The pink-haired girl walked, eyes down on the ground, an endless trail that could never lead her anywhere anymore. But the vast, flat land betrayed her and she felt something make a thunk as she walked into it unknowingly, eyes widening when she realized that she had crashed into a mail box, and that the letters were strewn all over the sand...

Sniffling, she bent down and began to clean the mess up. Her vision was obscured and her hands were shaky as the letters slipped out of her grasp as soon as she'd picked them up. A part of her was grateful that she had something to distract her from the blaring pain of this betrayal, of the shock and hurt and heartbreak...

Tears began to fall again, right after she was sure she'd run out, and to her horror a lone teardrop fell on one of the crisp white envelopes. Her pale hands tried to scrub the water mark out, but it only ended up tearing the envelope, and before she could stop the letter fell out.

She bent over to pick it up, and before she could even register what she, herself was doing, her eyes fixated themselves on the paper. Her hands began to tremble as the words sank in and melted, like scars that couldn't be removed...

What was written here _couldn't be true..._

Footsteps sounded from behind her, and she whirled around. _What are you doing with that!?, _he demanded, storming over towards her. She shook with each step he took.

She slapped him, hard. "How dare you!?" she bellowed, "Y-you... you've been _lying_, all this time! Bastard!" Her hands began to shake in fury now, unaware that he was glaring at her in shock and sudden rage. "You're going to tell them! Tell them all what you've been doing!" she screamed, her throat protesting against the loud noises that elicited from it.

_I-I w-won't..._ he muttered, and before she could open her mouth to retort he grabbed her, strong arms grasping her cruelly, fingers bruising her flawless porcelain skin.

Her red eyes widened in shock, and soon in terror as her legs flailed and her arms tried to pry herself away from him, but she could not; he was too strong. "No!" she screamed as he tightened his grasp, the pain bringing fresh tears to her eyes. She was powerless. "Help! Someone, _help me!_"

_Shut up!_, he snarled, the venom in his voice surprising both of them. One arm detached from her body and instead grasped her neck, his fist big enough to wrap itself all the way around. She made incomprehensible sounds in the back of her throat, eyes widening in even more shock at this action. She couldn't get away, her strength was fading...and she was going...to die...

"P-please... no..." she begged with the last of her strength, voice nothing but a rasp, a whisper.

He tightened his fist in answer, like the words were fuel to him.

Her eyes narrowed to pinpoints, wavering frantically, and suddenly, she went limp, her eyes dilating suddenly, quickly.

She was gone.

He did not feel when he realized that he had killed her. His mind did not cease in thinking quickly and flawlessly, and when he found the answer, he did not hesitate in throwing her body into the ocean, lost forever in the depths of blue...

It was only then that a tear trailed down his cheek, hands clenching, nails digging into his already-calloused palms.

_He was protecting his love..._

He watched as the tide rolled in, waves blanketing her bruised and battered body as he continued to stare blanky as the moon, his only witness, dipped below the horizon into silence. A quick breath left his throat, then another, leaving him with a numbness he couldn't explain as the dawn's rays washed away the sins of the night.

_No one would know_, he whispered. _No one would ever know_.

--...--

On that summer morning, the only thing Sheryl had thought she'd be forced to deal with was a breakfast accented by Gray's signature grumpiness and the general mortification of a bridesmaid's gown. Instead, she faced a pearl white beach littered with horror-stricken villagers, and a body wrapped about in an ocean-tossed gown. Below her mess of pink curls lay a slight, but noticeable, dry smear of red.

Blood. Old blood.

"My Goddess," Harris was stammering, head shaking. "In all my years as an officer, I've never... I've never dreamed I'd actually have to enforce anything. Not in a place like this."

Beside her, Mary was sobbing into her hand, and Sheryl wished she could do something to comfort her cousin. She settled for an awkward pat on the back, and Mary dabbed at her watery eyes, miserable.

"J-just yesterday...she was s-s-smiling, and...Sheryl, she's...gone now..."

It had been pure accident that Mary had happened upon her friend; as the one sober member of yesterday's bachelorette party, it had been her solemn duty as a bridesmaid to find Popuri's suitcase for her honeymoon (which was already boarded on the ship) and fill her lingerie with rose petals. Karen's idea had been to tie it in knots, but gentle Elli had suggested an alternative so simple and unexpected, they couldn't help but agree.

Except Mary had forgotten to last night during Sheryl's nausea, and had rushed to do so early this morning. Early, but far, far too late.

"I haven't even s-s-seen a dead body before," Mary sniffed. "Poor girl, it's n-not...it's not..."

"It's never fair," Sheryl mumbled, head bowed. "No one ever deserves to die."

She'd seen so many photos of corpses in her career that Popuri's limp body should have been nothing. _Meant_ nothing. But wasn't it only yesterday that this girl had been laughing with her; hadn't it been wine staining her blouse, and not blood? Sheryl shuddered, but walked forward; her experience placed her far above any of these villagers in the world of homicide and investigation.

Even if she normally was defending the killer, and not discovering him.

"The blood was a result of the dock," Doctor Tim announced, straightening up from Popuri's side. "That broken beam--she was thrashed against it repeatedly by the waves. If she hadn't already have been dead, she probably still would be by now."

A gasp left Mary's throat, and Sheryl once again wished that Gray was the one standing here, not her. If Gray weren't informing Kai, he could be here comforting his wife, because it didn't take a lawyer to know when someone was faking anything. Even emotion.

Sheryl cleared her throat. "So how'd she die?"

"Asphyxia." When Harris raised an eyebrow, Tim amended, "Strangulation. The asphyxia was the lack of oxygen--that's what killed her." He traced his gloved fingers along Popuri's slender, bruised neck, touching the pattern of blue diamonds almost reverently. "This was murder, Harris. Someone did this to her, willingly and intentionally."

Time froze as a single jagged knife of fear sliced through them: _someone killed her, someone killed her, there's a MURDERER among us._

Everything had remained still in this surreal, nightmarish moment, when footsteps came from behind. "I...I just saw Mother." No one dared look at Rick, his voice already choked with emotion. "I told her not to come. I told her she wouldn't be able to take this in her health."

"And can you?" Tim replied quietly.

The poultry farmer glanced at the crumpled husk on the ground, and shut his eyes. His voice come out in a whisper. "I thought so, until now."

--...--

That day should have been a day of joy. It should have promised hope and new life...

Instead, the people were robbed of that. Instead, they were inflicted with the agony of losing one of their own-- someone they had watched grow from an infant into a beautiful maiden... so full of life and energy... only to be robbed of all of that. Her life, her future...her wedding day.

No one knew who had been more destroyed by these events. The townspeople or the little girl that lay cold on one of Tim's cots...

The entire town had gathered at the Poultry Farm--around a grieving Lillia, who, having once been so full of hope had it all crushed in an instant. Now they could see, and really _see_ that she was dying...that she had been dying for a long time. Now they could see that she had been living without the love of her life for sixteen years. Now they could see her daughter was dead; that a part of the mother was lost in the ocean, being thrashed against a broken beam again and again like her daughter had been, the sobs that wracked her body too big a point of comparison that many had to look away...

Zack was the only one that was able to stay near her. Lillia clung to him in her grief as if he were the only thing keeping her alive, keeping her from fading away before everyone's eyes. Zack's own dark eyes seemed deadened as well, and people knew that Popuri had been like a daughter to him, that he had been their surrogate father when Rod left.

Rick stood off to the side, and Karen was with him. They stood together, not looking at each other, not speaking or even crying. They shared an empathy that only two best friends could have, and that was what kept Rick from wailing, from sobbing uncontrollably. Karen was what kept Rick strong for his mother. No one, however, held Kai's hand as he stood in shock at the crowd's edges. His strength was gone now, lying in an empty husk of the girl whose face he dared not see.

Everyone had someone to grieve for. They were grieving for the same girl, but everyone thought of her in different ways, in such close ways that everyone was sobbing with grief, the young and old alike. The agony of the loss was startling, and yet a terror had spread among them like an epademic. The knowledge that she had been _murdered_ sent waves of terror, suspicion and shock among them, puncturing the grief and casting shadows among the connections they shared.

For all they knew the murderer could _be in that very room._

The only people noticeably absent were Tim and Elli, who at that very moment were performing an autopsy on the poor girl, trying to discover knowledge that would somehow point them in the right direction.

Thomas had ordered it be done as soon as possible. The Mayor wanted the whole mess cleared up. He saw, like everyone else, what the knowledge that one of them was a killer was doing, and he wanted that killer found out and caught before anything else could happen...

Sheryl was adrift in this wave of grief. She stood by Mary, who was sobbing into Gray's chest uncontrollably. The lawyer had never been more left out in her life--she wasn't one of them. She saw Popuri as nothing but the pimple-faced little girl that followed them around back when they were younger. She couldn't possibly share this grief, and she knew it, as cold as it seemed.

She had left the big, industrious city seeking sanctuary in Mineral Town and had just been thrust into another murder, another investigation. She wanted none of it. She wanted nothing more than to run, run, run until she was far away from the life that had plagued her...but she knew in her heart that she couldn't--that a monster lurked in Mineral Town and that only another monster could lead the people to finding it.

Sheryl Austen was one such monster, her innocence torn to shreds by tainted men and women that grasped at her for a dissolution of their crimes. Sheryl, who had been one of them, had become a lawyer wanting nothing more than to get the innocent acquitted...but she had soon learned that there were no innocents: only monsters that sullied your innocence and tore it from you, leaving you a monster that apathetically defended them from punishment.

_Who killed her?_

_Why did they do it?_

These questions echoed in her mind, and she knew deep in her tainted heart that she was the only one that could answer them...no matter how much deeper her own past laid buried.

Only she could.

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_A/N: Poor Popsie... well, with questions abound, our story has just truly started. Drama, intrigue, mystery, courtroom drama and yes, even a bit of romance await you readers. We hope that you enjoyed our latest installment, and that you review since all three of us love them so much! :D  
_


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